Difference Makers

Welcome to the difference makers, here all the people, organizations that are making a difference in our world

This page and section is about the people who do make a difference – the question that comes to mind is “What can one person do to make a difference?”

QuickieCardsmission is to make the world a better place one smile at at time. For more information about QuickieCards, or to buy quality greeting cards online, visitwww.QuickieCards.com
Tell us about someone you know that needs a smile, and we will mail them a FREE card from you. We support our troops with FREE cards.

1. Thank You Notes – You can print free Thank You Notes and keep them with you for the times you see someone involved in a Simple Act of Kindness. You can also give them to someone who made you laugh or smile, or to someone who provided exceptional service. When you see someone who has done something kind, you might want to hand them a Thank You Note and say “That was really nice of you, I want you to have this.”

2. Stories – We realize that Thank You Notes are a little forward for some people, but you can still share your stories! This is actually the most rewarding aspect of this site.

3. T-Shirts – You can also order T-Shirts that Encourages People to become involved in Random Acts of Kindness. The T-Shirts are designed to make even the Grumpiest Stranger Happy! You could always order a T-Shirt to give to a Polite Stranger when they do something Really Nice!

The Uncommon Beauty Project is all about kids who shine with a special light even though they face incredible challenges every day of their lives. A primary goal of the project is to remind fledgling doctors and medical professionals that they’re not treating a condition, but a person that impacts a whole community!

Do you wonder what your community does to be kind to each other? Help each other? Show Acts of Kindness? Look at what other communities are doing, and see how you can support yours in innovative and useful ways.

Kathy Tarochione, has a video blog about community kindness. She is LifeStory Designer. What is that? I’m a Digital Collage Artist and Remembrance Consultant. I create life stories from your memories with pictures and videos. I’m an animal lover. I’ve been a Pet Rescuer for over 40 years. I am the Founder and Volunteer for Arkansas Pet Rescue in Harrison. I’m a Community Kindness Coordinator with Random Acts of Kindness. For my creative side I’m a pretty darn good Digital Collage Artist, Digital Photographer and Marketing Guru.

If you get a chance check out her site.

Who is Mark Lovett?

Fast forward five years to 2008. Having recently completed a tour as president and CEO of a local high-tech company, and having spent 25+ years in the world of business, Mark started a new consulting practice to help companies with their strategic planning. Though he enjoyed working with his clients, it became apparent that from a personal perspective he needed to look beyond the bottom line and do something that would have a greater impact on the world.

The concept of Global Patriot kept returning to him as a phrase that could be expanded upon to explore what it meant for our thoughts, words and actions to be focused on supporting the planet. The concept also implied a lack of affiliation with any race, gender, religion or ideology, extolling a dedication to acting in a manner that would have a positive effect throughout the world.

His project began…

Most of us take electricity for granted, and couldn’t imagine life without it, but 1.6 billion people, nearly 25% of humanity, currently live without access to electricity. In most cases, their only source of light once the sun goes down comes from candles or kerosene lamps.

Even during the day, inadequate lighting inside school rooms will marginalize a child’s education, and light coming from kerosene lamps is so poor that children can only see their schoolbooks if they are almost on top of the flame, directly inhaling even more of the toxic smoke. The opportunity for a child to read and study after sundown has a significant effect on their education, and thus, their entire life.

Light Up The World is an organization determined to make a difference in this area by providing light sources based on renewable energy. They’ve sponsored projects in Afghanistan, Ecuador, Honduras, India, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Sierra Leone, Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea and many other countries.

Most of us take electricity for granted, and couldn’t imagine life without it, but 1.6 billion people, nearly 25% of humanity, currently live without access to electricity. In most cases, their only source of light once the sun goes down comes from candles or kerosene lamps.
strong>The nightly news with Brian Williams is doing a Celebrity Spotlight about celebrities making a difference.

You can nominate someone in making a difference..In our Making a Difference series, Nightly News regularly profiles ordinary people helping their neighbors — or even complete strangers — in these tough economic times.

The New York Times wrote that Williams’ coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath was “a defining moment as a network reporter and anchor.” Vanity Fair magazine called his work “Murrow-worthy” and said that while reporting live from New Orleans, Williams “exhibited unfaltering composure, compassion and grit,” and during the crisis became “a nation’s anchor.”

Here’s a little information about Brian Williams..

In March 2007, Williams returned to Iraq and reported from throughout the country for several days. In May 2006, Williams joined Bono, traveling to three countries in Africa — Nigeria, Mali and Ghana — to report on the major issues facing the continent, including HIV/AIDS, poverty, disease and crushing debt.

In April 2005, Brian Williams was the first of the big three network news anchors to report that Pope John Paul II had died, and the first and only evening news anchor to travel to Rome to cover the funeral. In January 2005, he traveled to Baghdad and Mosul to report on the landmark Iraqi elections. He has reported on every aspect of the war, from the battlefield to the home front. Also in 2005, Williams was the first network evening news anchor to report from Banda Aceh, Indonesia — where, in the first week following the devastating tsunami, he covered the international relief and recovery effort, while working around the clock. read more..

Williams was the first and only network evening news anchor to report from New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina hit and was the only network news anchor to report from the Superdome during the storm. He remained in New Orleans to report on the aftermath and destruction of Hurricane Katrina, and continues to travel back and forth to the region to cover the recovery and rebuilding efforts.

Congrats Brian, for the wonderful work you are doing..
You can nominate someone in making a difference..In our Making a Difference series, Nightly News regularly profiles ordinary people helping their neighbors.

I found this site and a cool idea, which I thought I will write about this wonderful concept that was started by Janelle Elms. I’ve just cut and pasted the history and how it all works. I encourage you to get some cards or simply buy the person behind you a coffee. I’ve done this a few times, one time the person tried to give me the money and of course that defeats the purpose. I simply asked her to Pay It Forward sometime. She was kinda flabbergasted that someone would do this kind of thing. Amazing!!

In Line Behind Me

…Sometimes it just takes a cup of coffee to change the world.

How ILBM Started

In Line Behind Me was started a couple of years ago with an encounter at a Starbucks. I purchased the person ‘in line behind me’ their coffee, and what happened after that created an incredible experience! Sometimes all it takes is a cup of coffee to change the world!

About the ILBM team

Janelle Elms is a Queen in some pink world of her own creation. Janelle, with her dry sense of humor, random quips and sparkly brilliance keeps everyone around her on their toes. Janelle loves good coffee, cute shoes and Star Wars. She is a marketing goddess and owns and runs a company that helps people grow their own internet companies – although her true desire is to drive a Monster truck. Janelle makes it a point to believe at least six impossible things before breakfast. And she also believes that while it may be hard being the Queen, someone has to do it.

Help From Home
Written by Debra and Mike Bright – The story behind Help From Home began a few years ago when I was doing a lot of volunteering activities from the comfort of my own home, like writing to sick children to make them smile, answering surveys from (mainly) psychological students and researchers, converting public domain books into e-books and raising money for charity for free by using click-to-donate sites etc, etc. I considered these as volunteering opportunities as I was spending my time helping somebody else, even though sometimes the recipient would not normally be considered to be the traditional type of person or organization one would think of as needing help.

Over time I realized I wanted to do more things that had the potential to benefit others and so I began looking for some more home based volunteering opportunities. The more I looked, the more I found, but the one over-riding feature I discovered about these opportunities was that for one reason or another they were just not featured on any of the volunteering portal websites like VolunteerMatch. Also, I realized that if you didn’t even know that such an opportunity existed (and there are some pretty obscure ones out there) there would be little chance in finding it. That’s when I realized that these type of opportunities really needed to be collated and put into one place, which I discovered hadn’t been done before.

Thank you Debra for letting me know about your initiative. It’s amazing how many opportunities are available out there that people can get involved with, even in their PJ’s.

Did you know that 1 out of 3 Americans (include North Americans) are homeless or very soon out the door..onto the street unless a family member or friends or even a stranger comes to the rescue.

Why has Homelessness been increasing? Take a look around – read blogs, stories of people or maybe the news might report it. It’s better to not know about this kind of problem than do something about it.

These stories are reasons why we have homelessness and some solutions in how YOU can help. Yes you! Steve spent 30+ years in and out of homelessness while battling addictions. He “got it together” in 2000, got his BA and MPA at Cal State University Chico. Since then, he has dedicated his life to serving those who are still on the street. You can currently find him wandering around Nashville, Tennessee assisting the disabled in obtaining their social security disability benefits. He co-founded and writes for The Contributor, a street newspaper produced and sold by the homeless, and in his spare time trains outreach workers for the National Health Care for the Homeless Council and blogs at Stone Soup Station.Take action

Habitat.org I think these people are great – you can volunteer your time, or donate $$ or get raise funds to help Habitat for Humanity.

Off the Streets. On with Life.Jericho Project is inspired by the belief that transformation can occur in each individual. Through our innovative programs and knowledge sharing, we seek to catalyze change that enables homeless individuals to discover their strengths and lead remarkable lives. We accomplishes this for only $12,000 per year per resident compared to $25,000 for a New York City shelter and $67,000 for a City Jail.

Do Something says: “1 in 3 homeless people in the US are under the age 18. Homeless youth are up to 10x more likely to have or contract HIV.

Linda Finstad a friend of mine started a Pay it Forward Campaign. She makes chemo head gear for women who are going through Cancer treatments. Linda started this business seven years ago, and just this year she decided to (because I inspired her) start a Pay It Forward Campaign.

Those who act with kindness. And who live with hope and gratitude. Actually, they carry the entire planet.

I first found out about this organization on a Linkedin group, and thought that their organization is important to let people know about it, whether you are wanting to volunteer, or looking for a resource for your child.

Dreams for Kids empowers youth living in poverty and those with disabilities, by uniting them with their peers, recognizing their abilities, and allowing their voices to be heard. The most isolated young people from every community are reminded they have something to give. While fearlessly pursing their dreams, they are leading others to their own and compassionately changing the world.

Ways to Help

We live in the most challenging time in modern history. This is also the time of our greatest opportunity. The global economic crisis has affected each of us. Never before have so many been connected by suffering. Those who have enjoyed prosperity have lost much of what they had. Those who have little are struggling to survive.

The issues that have plagued our local and global communities for decades can no longer be someone else’s problem. We are all in this together. The answers we have hoped for, the change we have wished for, is upon us. We are the generation we have been waiting for. We must be the change we seek.

It is the time to join together and do what each of us is able. Let us chart our course, empower our youth, and find the greatness within ourselves to transform the world. Let us chart our course, empower our youth, and find the greatness in ourselves which creates the world of our dreams. Here are some ways to help them.